MINNEAPOLIS, MN, September 06, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ — Terry Daniel, a voice over professional, is making himself available to the media to explain how social networking has been responsible for growing his niche voice over business. Daniel is willing to offer insider advice on how your viewers / readers / listeners can use applications like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and You Tube in building their own business. This is priceless information for your audience, especially in this struggling economy.

There is a craft in using these online social sites and Daniel, through trial and error, has learned how to manage his professional growth with the help of these web moguls. A recent June TIME Magazine cover story focuses on how Twitter is changing the way Americans live and even do business. TIME Writer, Steven Johnson says in the article how “Successful businesses will have millions of Twitter followers (and will pay good money to attract them) and a whole new language of tweet-based customer interaction will evolve to keep those followers engaged.”

Daniel has figured out how to engage businesses and organizations with his voice for almost 20-years. Now, he is engaging followers on sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and You Tube; and can explain how he uses the sites to attract and engage potential clients. This will be a value to your audience whether they know how to use the social media sites or if they are just now learning about them.

“Sell your personality, not your product” is just one of Daniel’s favorite social networking tips.

Daniel has a number of tips to pass along to your audience to help them learn the social networking ropes. Financial analysts and business forecasters have stated that entrepreneurs have the potential to save the American economy. This is your opportunity to take that step with your audience and show them that you are hunting the best sources to help them secure a better financial future and obtain the “American Dream.”

Daniel’s credits are as follow: HGTV, Sprint, YMCA, What Really Counts for CEO’s (Audio Book Narrator), Suzuki, Six Disciplines for Excellence (Audio Book Narrator), The American Red Cross, Work4ABC.com, The Discovery Channel, McDonalds, Great Clips, Wal-Mart, Hallmark, Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers), United Way, United Building Centers, Regis Corporation, Lifetime Fitness, Kwik Trip, Boston Scientific, HOM Furniture, Close Combat: First to Fight (Video game) and many more!

“Some laugh when I ask them if they’re on Twitter. Then, I show them the income I’ve made from finding clients on Twitter. Suddenly, nobody’s laughing” – Terry Daniel.

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit
A friendly tone of voice will make you seem more approachable and kind and might even win you some friends. You can easily attain this quality with just a little experimentation and practice.

Steps

Record yourself speaking as normally as you possibly can. Find a paragraph in a book or newspaper you are reading, and speak as naturally as possible into some recording device. You can often find these in cell phones and computers, or you can buy a tape recorder at your local electronics store.

Watch yourself speak by standing in front of a mirror while reading the same paragraph. Watch your face carefully, paying special attention to how your mouth moves and your facial expressions.

Identify where you need to improve by listening as objectively as you can to your recording and observing yourself in the mirror. What were your first impressions of your speaking voice?

Pay attention to common problems. Most people have a similar idea as to what the ideal speaking voice is. These qualities vary only slightly.

Varying pitch. Avoid the dreaded monotone by raising and lowering your voice to emphasize or de-emphasize certain points of what you are saying. This often varies by region, so pay attention to your friends and neighbors as they speak.

Soft volume. Nobody wants to be yelled at, so speak just a little softer that you normally would, especially when talking to someone who is physically close to you.

Relaxed tone. If there is tension in your throat or chest, your voice will sound hoarse and forced, almost as if you have laryngitis. Relax your upper body, including your shoulders, neck and abdominal muscles, and your voice will sound more gentle and pleasant.

Practice your new speaking voice. Record and watch yourself again, and decide whether you did an adequate job at correcting the problems you identified earlier. Be careful not to overdo it; your voice will sound obviously fake. Once you have struck a balance that you like to listen to, practice reading out loud or even talking on the phone with close friends.

Tips

Try asking a close friend or mentor their candid opinion on you voice, both before and after you try to change it. They can offer a more objective opinion, which will prove invaluable.

Warnings

Speaking too much or too often will hurt your vocal chords and could land you with a permanently damaged voice. Don’t overdo the practice, and take breaks often. If your throat ever starts to hurt, immediately stop and try to stay as silent as possible for as long as necessary.

Comments

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit
No matter who you are or what you do, chances are you need to use your voice most of the day. Everyone knows the importance of exercising the body but few people realize the voice needs exercise too. It is best to relax the body with simple self massage and light stretching before doing vocal exercises. Perform these eleven quick and easy warm ups in the privacy of your shower or wherever you feel comfortable to release physical and vocal tension.

Steps

Massage the base of your tongue, in the spongy area just behind your chin bone. Start by resting your index fingers on top of your chin. Drop your jaw which will cause your mouth to open. While resting your index fingers on your chin, simultaneously use your thumbs to massage deeply into the base of your tongue.

Release tension from your temporal mandibular joints. To find the joints, place your fingertips just by and in front of your ears on both sides of your face and open your mouth. The space that opens up as your jawbone moves is your temporal mandibular joint. Massage these joints using your fingertips or the palms of your hands. Release your jaw further and massage deeper with each exhale.

Stretch your tongue out of your mouth as far as you can in all directions.

Make as many funny faces as you can to exercise all of your facial muscles and stretch your cheeks.

Massage your neck and shoulders. It is also a good idea to add basic neck and shoulder rolls to loosen up.

Make some silly noises while shaking out your entire body or jumping up and down to let go of any other tense areas that may be stuck.

Yawn a few times to open up the back of the throat.

Hum holding any pitch for 10 or more seconds feeling a tingling sensation around your lips and nose.

Buzz your lips making a Brr sound. Start on any pitch. Then go up and down your vocal range.

Vocalize on an open ‘Ahh’ sound going up and down your range.

Sing or hum any song that uplifts or inspires you.

do it carefully dont rush!

Tips

If you experience any tenderness or pain during massage, there is tension trapped in your body. Just continue to breathe into the tension, releasing and letting it go.

Vocalizing with open sounds like ‘maah’ or ‘aahh’ on the exhale while massaging or stretching can help you release even further.

Warnings

Most people experience tension specifically in the tongue, jaw, face, neck, or shoulders and are normally unaware of how much that consistent stress impacts their verbal and non-verbal communication.

Comments

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit
A Voice-Over Actor/Voice-Over Artist is an oral actor and in many ways, must convey emotions better than a visual actor. As a former voice-over artist, I can attest that being a voice-over artist can be fun, demanding, and is a great field!

Steps

Practice reading articles out loud, prefereably those where you are required to change your voice. IE: Reading “Dr. Suess” books such as “Are You My Mother” are great ways to tell a story in a narrator’s voice, as well a host of characters in a book is a great way to practice keeping “in character”. When you get comfortable — volunteer to read in front of groups of children, as they will be honest if they like your characterizations or not.

Practice your characterizations into a microphone. Play them back and listen to them; play them for friends and family.

Record other people’s dialects and copy them, by recording yourself and playing the recording of your impressions versus the recording of the real dialect.

Record your best dialects, your best “straight” copy (copy is another term for “advertisements” or “the written script”) and look up in the newspaper, trade magazine, or internet ads where there is someone hiring for part-time vocal work. You can call your local television cable company and ask who does their vocal work for their ads. SOME companies may not pay in money, but they will give you trade items. Keep copies of your work, for experience.

Get copies of trade magazines, if at all possible, or, if you live in a larger town, go to the library to look at trade magazines there (“Radio Ink”, “Variety”, etc.). Or, you can always visit the Internet and look for places where they are hiring voice-over talent.

The larger the market, the more you’ll need an agent, yourself. In larger markets, you may also need to become part of a union. Again, look up on the internet, “Voice-Over Actor’s Unions”

Tips

When reading “copy”, make sure to SMILE. If reading copy of a serious nature, don’t smile. For some oddball reason, if you smile while reading copy, your voice sounds more engaging, more accessible, and people are more apt to respond to your voice if it sounds more approachable.

AVOID “popping of the P’s and T’s” — that is when you talk into a microphone and you hear a “popping” sound whenever a “P” or “T” is pronounced. How can it be remedied? SMILE. That’s right — when your bottom lip is stretched, you have less of a chance of “popping the p’s” — just another great reason to smile while doing the greatest job in the world!

Practice makes perfect – so studying the masters of the craft (Mel Blanc – the man of many voices, Hank Azaria, James Earl Jones, and a host of others- both male and female – will help you immensely)

Going to a community college that specializes in Mass Communication can also help you if you wish to be in radio production – so don’t rule out college if you haven’t done so, yet.

Once you get past a certain age (unless you have worked your way up and have gained a great reputation), big markets won’t be interested in you.

Make sure you have a tough skin – this is a business where you will hear ALOT of feedback — both good and bad. You will also be competing against many others for your job in the larger markets, so hang tough, keep learning and keep growing.

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